Senior Engineer- Planning (Rail Project)
AECOMAECOM, the global infrastructure consultant, is hiring for a Senior Engineer- Planning to work on a major rail programme in the United Arab Emirates. This is a fulltime, onsite role based in Abu Dhabi, designed for someone who likes turning complex schedules into clear action plans. The company is known for delivering projects that shape cities and communities, and this position sits at the heart of a multi-contract rail initiative in the UAE.
The role sits in the consultant’s project controls team, focusing on oversight of contractors’ planning and schedule performance across several contracts. The planner will review contractor programmes, monitor progress, and keep the integrated master programme up to date while supporting assessments of delays and time-related claims. Clear reporting on programme status, critical path movements and schedule risk will be important to keep the client informed.
It’s well suited to someone with substantial planning and scheduling experience on major infrastructure, especially rail projects, who enjoys coordinating with multiple stakeholders and translating data into practical insights. If you’re comfortable with demanding schedules, cross-contract interfaces and a collaborative, client-facing environment, this could be a strong match.
Mapping the milestones across a multi-contract rail programme
Your day-to-day revolves around ensuring contractor plans align with contractual requirements and framing progress in a way that supports recovery actions when needed. You’ll scrutinize baseline programmes for logic, milestones and structure, check the schedule for realism, and flag inconsistencies that could hinder progress monitoring or delay assessment. You’ll also review monthly updates and revised programmes to identify unjustified changes or signs of schedule manipulation, while ensuring submissions follow the required planning standards.
Beyond individual contractor plans, you’ll help maintain the integrated master programme by incorporating updates, design approvals, third-party works and client activities. You’ll map and watch interfaces between civil works, track systems, stations and depots, reporting any cross-contract risks as they emerge and analysing how delays in one area ripple through the overall schedule. You’ll assess how changes impact the programme and support the client’s position on claims and recovery.
Progress verification and performance analysis sit high on the list. You’ll validate reported progress through site observation, design deliverables and procurement tracking, applying the agreed measurement rules when evaluating contractor claims. Collecting and interpreting Earned Value Management data, including SPI, CPI, earned value and planned value, will feed into trend analyses that inform the client’s decision-making. You’ll also prepare inputs for weekly and monthly progress reports and client-facing presentations, and help keep dashboards, S-curves and milestone trackers accurate and up to date. Attending progress meetings and following up on actions with contractors is routine, ensuring slippage gets translated into concrete recovery commitments.
When variances and delays arise, you’ll help identify the root causes and propose recovery measures. You’ll support the review of extension of time claims and time impact analyses, checking fragnets, logic and supporting records, and you’ll perform initial assessments of time effects for variations and change requests. Independent schedule records, including as-built data, will be maintained to support the client in any disputes or claims scenarios. Finally, you’ll ensure that any approved changes are reflected in both contractor programmes and the integrated master programme, using drawings, specifications and contract documents to verify full scope alignment.
What you’ll bring to the timetable game
Must-have qualifications
- A bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management or a related field
- Seven or more years of planning and scheduling experience on major infrastructure projects, with rail, metro or light rail exposure
- Strong command of Primavera P6
- Experience with extension of time claims, time impact analyses and delay analysis methods
- Working knowledge of FIDIC contracts, especially provisions around programme, progress and delay
- Solid understanding of CPM scheduling, WBS, progress measurement and earned value management
- Experience in UAE or GCC rail projects, such as Etihad Rail or Dubai Metro, on multi-contract programmes
- Proficiency in Excel; Power BI reporting is a nice-to-have
Nice-to-have
- Experience reporting across multiple contracts in a unified programme view beyond the core planning data
Pay, perks and the practical details
The position is fulltime and onsite in Abu Dhabi. New hires must attend in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment. The company describes a broad benefits package that may include medical, dental, vision, life and disability coverage, paid time off and leaves of absence, voluntary benefits and perks, flexible work options, well-being resources and an employee assistance program, along with business travel insurance, service recognition awards, a retirement savings plan and an employee stock purchase plan. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm with revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025, and the firm positions itself as a global infrastructure leader that helps public- and private-sector clients solve complex challenges across water, environment, energy, transportation and buildings. If you’re drawing a connection between big projects and tangible, long-term impact, this is the kind of team that can support your growth through formal training and a wide network of experts, all while offering a collaborative workplace grounded in respect and community.
Advice for applicants
Lead your resume with the must-haves that matter most for this role. Open with a concise line that shows you have 7+ years of planning and scheduling on major infrastructure projects and explicit rail experience, plus Primavera P6 proficiency and cross-contract programme exposure.
Show your must-have capabilities with concrete examples. Include a brief instance where you reviewed a baseline programme for logic and constraints, highlighted a critical-path issue, and used earned value management data to explain progress trends to a client or senior team member. Mention any EOT claims or TIAs you’ve contributed to, with high-level outcomes.
Prepare for interviews by rehearsing scenarios around cross-contract interfaces and the integrated master programme. Be ready to discuss how delays in one contract affected others and how you would use dashboards and S-curves to present risks and recovery plans to the client, including adjusting recovery commitments based on evidence from site visits and progress records.
Have a thoughtful question ready to ask. For example: how does the team coordinate across civil works, track systems, stations and depots to keep interdependencies visible, and what processes are used to track and challenge schedule risks across multiple contracts?